


Hold On, We're Going Home

by bayoublackjack



Series: Stars & Stripes Forever [9]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: 1940s, F/M, Marvel Universe, Mistaken Identity, POV Martha Jones, Period-Typical Racism, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, TARDIS rooms, Time Travel, World War II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bayoublackjack/pseuds/bayoublackjack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martha and Steve’s plans for a nice quiet museum date are squashed when the TARDIS shows up and they end up taking an impromptu trip back to WWII era Brooklyn with the Doctor and Clara, who Steve swears he’s seen before.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The thing Martha loved most about her job was that she often got to go to new places and meet new people.  But once she set foot back in England, she felt the sense of relief that could only be achieved by going home.  As much as she loved working stateside, part of her heart would always be in London.

It was good to be home. 

After the mission’s completion, Martha had received special permission from Kate to spend a few extra days in town, much to her mother’s delight.  The first full day at home was spent lounging around her flat in her pajamas all day.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had that luxury.  Well over a year, she estimated.  She promised herself that she’d find some excuse to leave the house the next day and was pleasantly surprised when a call from Steve gave her as good of reason as any.

“I figured you’d be back in Washington D.C. by now,” Martha said with a smile when she answered her phone.

“I was supposed to be,” Steve told her.  “Change of plans.”

“You and your plans,” Martha teased.

“Would you like to be a part of them?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“Well our first one was interrupted,” Steve reminded her.  “And since this is your city, I figured who better to see it with than you.”

Martha laughed.  “You know for a man who claims to be bad with women, you’re surprisingly adept at flirting.”

“I’m not good with women.  I’m good with  _you_ ,” Steve retorted.  “You make it easy.”

“FYI, most women don’t take to being associated with easiness,” Martha joked.

“You know what I meant.”

“I do,” Martha assured him.  “I just like taking the mick out of you.”

Steve chuckled on his end of the phone.  “Yea.  I’ve noticed.”

“So about that date,” Martha said.

“Just name the time and place.”

“Meet me next to the lions in Trafalgar Square in an hour.”

“I’ll be counting the seconds.”

Martha quickly ended the call and got dressed.  She changed her outfit a few times, making an effort to look nice without appearing as though she was trying too hard.  When she arrived at the square, Steve was already waiting for her at the base of Nelson’s Column.  “You’re early.”

“So are you.”

Martha smiled.  “Maybe I missed you.”

Steve smiled as well.  “Just maybe?”

“Yep.  That’s all you’re getting.”

“I’ll take it.”  Steve stood up and reached for her hand.  “So where are we headed?”

“I was thinking a museum,” Martha said as she slipped her hand into his.  “You like art and the National Gallery is just there,” she said pointing to the museum across the square from them.  “And there are plenty more in walking distance.  So we could probably do a couple.  Have a bite in between.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Martha led the way across the square and up the portico to the gallery’s main vestibule.  They were preparing to enter the Central Hall when Martha suddenly stopped.  “Did you hear something?”

Steve paused and listened closely.  “No.  I…”  He frowned.  “Wait.  What is that?”

Martha shushed him then smiled when she heard the familiar sound.  “Come on.”  She tugged on Steve’s hand and rushed towards the closed Room 1.  She peeked around to make sure no one was watching them then slipped inside where the old blue box stood as if she had always been there waiting.

Steve stared at the box then looked at Martha.  “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes it is,” Martha answered.

“So that means?”

Before Martha could answer the Doctor stepped out of his TARDIS and looked around.  “This isn’t the Library of Alexandria.”

“Not even close,” Martha said.

The Doctor wheeled around at the sound of her voice.  “Martha Jones!”  He greeted her with kisses to both cheek.  “Always a pleasure.”

“Doctor!”  Martha hugged him tightly.

The Doctor pulled back and looked at her with a frown.  “What are you doing here?  Wherever  _here_ is.”

“The National Gallery,” she answered.  “And I was trying to have a date,” she added gesturing towards Steve.

“Of course!  Dr. Tom Milligan!  How are you doing?”  The Doctor frowned as he looked at Steve.  “Not Tom.”  He looked at Martha.  “Where is Tom?”

“Tom is out of the picture,” Martha said quickly.

“So long Tom.  Hello…”

Steve extended his hand to the man.  “Steve Rogers.”

“Steve Rogers.”  The Doctor shook his hand.  “I’m the Doctor.”

“Good to finally meet you,” Steve said.  “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I wish I could say the same,” the Doctor replied.  “Or maybe I have?  Steve Rogers.   _Steve_ Rogers.  Steve… _Rogers_ .  Why do I know that name?”

“Well…”  Martha glanced at Steve then back to the Doctor.  “He’s Captain America.”

“That Steve Rogers!” the Doctor said suddenly.  He looked him over.  “You’ve certainly changed since the last time I saw you.  Of course, so have I.”  He stroked his face.

Steve stared at him in disbelief.  “Are you saying we’ve met before?”

“Brief encounter,” the Doctor said with a wave of his hands.  “It was the 1930s.  There were Daleks in Manhattan.  Martha had gone missing.  I recall a woman named Sarah and her son who didn’t take kindly to being helped up by a stranger.  You weren’t rude of course.  You just needed to prove that you could take care of yourself.  And so you have!”  He clapped his hands together happily and smiled.  “Love a good underdog story!”

“Wow.”  Martha looked at Steve.  “I guess we were closer to meeting than we realized.”

Steve returned her glance.  “I suppose so.”

“Speaking of meetings, is anyone going to introduce me?” Clara asked, popping her head around the TARDIS door.

Steve stared at her with wide eyes.  “Connie?”

“Close,” Clara retorted as she stepped out.  “Clara.  Clara Oswald.”

“We’ve met before,” Steve insisted.  “I mean I  _think_ we did.  There was a girl before the war named Connie, but she looks exactly like you.”

Martha turned to the Doctor.  “Is that possible?”

“Another version of me?” Clara asked the Doctor.

“ _Another_ ?” Steve questioned.

“It’s a long story,” the Doctor said.  “Clara jumped into my time stream and was splintered.  There are echoes of her showing up across all of time and space.”  He paused.  “Actually that story wasn’t very long at all.”

“So Connie was… _is_ a version of Clara?” Steve asked.

The Doctor nodded.  “So it would seem.”

Steve rubbed his temple.  “I might need a minute.”

“So I was mates with a superhero?” Clara asked with a grin.  “Well done me.”

“We went on a date,” Steve told her.  “A double date to the fair.  You were with Bucky and you brought your friend Bonnie along for me.  We saw Howard Stark’s exhibit with the flying car.”

“Well that sounds exciting.”  Clara beamed.  “Doctor, can we go there?”

The Doctor frowned.  “I don’t think you should be going anywhere other versions of yourself exist,” he told Clara sternly.  “And I can’t take the TARDIS back to New York during that time again.  It’s…complicated.”

“So we’ll land in New Jersey and hitch a ride across the river,” Clara suggested.

Martha smirked.  “Can’t argue with that logic.”

The Doctor scoffed.  “I can argue with any logic,” he retorted defiantly as he tweaked his bowtie.

“Yea, that’s not a comforting sentiment,” Clara said.

“If we go back in time,” Steve began then paused.

Martha squeezed his hand.  “You can see him again.”  She gave him a warm smile when he looked at her.  “You can see Bucky.”

“So it’s settled!” Clara replied and moved back inside the TARDIS.

The Doctor followed behind her protesting.  “Nothing is settled!  I have the final say!”

“Actually I think she does,” Martha retorted referring to the TARDIS.  She pulled Steve inside and he paused at the entrance.

“It really is bigger on the inside,” Steve marveled.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Martha told him with a grin.

“Show me?”

“Gladly.”

Martha led him on a tour of the massive ship, including an all-important stop in the wardrobe for more period friendly clothes.  Martha picked a plain and understated dress as not to arouse too much attention.  They needed to blend in as much as possible, her especially.

“If I knew you’d look that good in the dresses from my time, I would have suggested time travel a lot sooner,” Steve said as he stepped from around the corner.

Martha turned to look at him, he was dressed in an outfit her grandfather would have probably worn back in the day, but somehow he managed to look amazing in it.  “You look pretty decent yourself.”

“Maybe we should sneak off and finish our date,” he joked.

“As tempting as that sounds, we both know it’s a bad idea,” Martha said.  She drew in a breath then let it out sharply.  “I don’t exactly have the best track record with traveling to certain parts of the past,” she told him seriously.  “For  _obvious_ reasons.”

“Martha…”

“You and me out there holding hands?”  She shook her head.  “We’re not here to make a statement, Cap.  We’re here so you can see Bucky.”

Steve sighed.  As much as it killed him, he knew Martha was right.  New York never had the anti-miscegenation laws that a lot of the other states had at some point, but that didn’t mean it was free of prejudiced people.  He had a hard enough time growing up being the son of Irish immigrants.  He didn’t even want to think about what could happen if some bigot saw the two of them together.  A lot of progress had been made in seventy years.  Not as much as there could have been, but Steve was at least comforted in knowing that he could openly hold Martha’s hand in public.  “If you’re afraid of someone hassling you…”

“Is that what you think?”  Martha cut him off.  “That I’m afraid of being harassed?”  She scoffed softly.  “The only thing I’m afraid of is some bastard giving me cheek and being tempted to put them on their arse.  I’m not looking to be arrested.”

Steve cracked a smile.  “No one wants that,” he agreed.

“Don’t worry about me.  I’ll be fine.”  Martha rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss.  “Just don’t think that this counts as our second date.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the quest to find Bucky, Martha is reminded of the darker moments of her time with the Doctor and Clara finds herself mistaken for someone else.

Martha and Steve returned to the TARDIS control room and found the Doctor and Clara dressed for the occasion and waiting for them.  “Now that we’re all here, I think it’s high time that I remind you lot that it’s important that none of you upset any events while we’re out there,” the Doctor said.

“This coming from him?” Clara muttered under her breath causing Martha to smile.

“There are two versions of you walking around,” he continued, looking at Steve and Clara.  “You cannot under _any_ circumstances let yourself been seen by your other self.”

“Maybe you should give them a perception filter,” Martha suggested.

“Oh Martha Jones, you clever girl!  I could kiss you!” the Doctor said as he searched for a TARDIS key to make a perception filter with.  “Somebody kiss her for me.”

Steve moved to kiss Martha, but Clara beat him to the punch and placed a kiss on Martha’s cheek.  “Don’t give me that look.  I was closer,” she said.  “Besides, haven’t you two been snogging enough?  I know what you were up to in the wardrobe.  Proper snog box this place is.” 

The Doctor returned with two keys on chains.  He gave one to Steve and one to Clara.  “As long as you wear this you’ll go unnoticed,” he assured them.

Steve slipped his in place.  “So I could be right in front of Bucky and he wouldn’t see me?”

“He’ll know you’re there,” Martha explained.  “But the perception filter will tell his brain that he doesn’t _want_ to see you.”  Steve frowned at her words.  “I know it’s not ideal, but at least you’ll get to see him again, yea?”

Steve nodded.  “Yea,” he agreed, but the sadness in his voice was unmistakable.

Martha gave him a quick kiss in attempts to lift his spirits and she heard Clara whisper “snog box” behind her back.

The Doctor parked the TARDIS in an alley behind the old movie theater in Steve’s neighborhood and the four of them set out to look for Bucky.  Without knowing exactly which date they had landed upon, it was hard to know exactly where to find him.  So they split up.  Steve went with the Doctor and Martha stayed with Clara.

The Doctor still had the superphone Martha had given him once upon a time.  She could reach him anywhere in the universe with it, so she assumed it would work there in spite of the lack of cellular towers.  They set their mobiles to silent and agreed upon a text in case of a sighting.  It was quick and more discrete.  Advance technology from the future would only cause trouble if it fell into the wrong hands, especially in a time period where Hydra was at its zenith.

“He’s a real catch,” Clara commented once it was just the two of them.  “Seems like a real decent bloke.  And you look good together.”

“Glad _you_ think so,” Martha said without looking at her.  Clara followed her eyes to a man on a street corner leering at them.  She couldn’t know for sure the reason he was staring, but she remembered the stares she had received when she was stranded with the Doctor in 1913.  Most of them didn’t dare speak the words they were thinking, though a few of them did.  It didn’t matter though.  Their actions spoke volumes.  It was simple to read people if you tried hard enough.  The eyes were the key.  When all else failed, a person’s true intentions could be seen in their eyes.  You could see love in them.  And you could also see hatred.

“Ignore him,” Clara whispered.

“Easier said than done sometimes.”  Martha glanced at her.  “Be nice if I could get him to ignore me though.”

“So why can’t you?” Clara asked.  She quickly removed the chain from around her neck and held it out for Martha to take.  “You wear it.  You need it more than me.”

“No,” Martha nudged her hand away gently.  “Put it back on.  You can’t afford to be seen.”

“Just take it,” Clara insisted.  “I mean what are the odds that someone who knows Connie will cross our path?”

“Hey Connie!” a male voice called out behind the two of them.  Martha and Clara turned to see the one and only Bucky Barnes standing behind them in full military uniform.

“And that’s why I never liked maths,” Clara muttered.  “I’m clearly rubbish at it.”

Bucky continued his approach, stopping directly in front of them.  He looked just as he had in Steve’s sketchbook, young and handsome with an endlessly charming smile.  “You’re not avoiding me are you?” he asked Clara.

“Me?”  Clara replied then cleared her throat and adjusted her accent.  Connie was American after all.  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Good.”  Bucky nodded in approval and glanced at Martha.  “Friend of yours?” he asked looking at Clara once more.

Martha and Clara looked at each quickly then back at Bucky.  “I…”  Martha said.  “I’m just…”

“Just my best friend ever,” Clara replied and grabbed Martha by the hand.

Martha laughed nervously.  “Right.  Connie and Martha.  Best friends forever.”

“Martha?” Bucky questioned.

“I’ve never told you about Martha?” Clara asked.

Bucky shook his head and looked at Martha again.  “I’d think I’d remember.  Not many of her kind around the neighborhood,” he commented.  Martha tensed at his words and she squeezed Clara’s hand tighter.  “Plenty Irish, but not as many English."  Both women exhaled at the same time.

“And with good reason,” Clara replied.  “She’s not from the neighborhood.  She’s…”

“Her pen pal,” Martha supplied.

“Pen pal,” Clara repeated with a smile.

“And you suddenly decided to come to New York?” Bucky asked.

“London’s not exactly the safest place to be these days,” Martha answered.

Bucky nodded.  “Hopefully we can put an end to that.”

“You will,” Martha told him.

“Definitely,” Clara added with a nod.

Bucky looked back and forth between the two of them before cracking a smile.  “I like her,” he told Clara and nodded his head towards Martha.  “Maybe you should have brought her along the other night.  No offense to Bonnie, but Steve and her didn’t really click.”  He looked at Martha again.  “I think he’d like you though.”

Martha laughed softly.  “Maybe.”

“Are you kidding?  He’d _love_ her!” Clara insisted with a grin.  “And she’d like him too.”

“He’s a bit on the skinny side, but he’s all heart,” Bucky told Martha.  “Too much heart.”  He shook his head and smiled.  “Kid likes to talk himself into more trouble than he can handle sometimes.”

“I can handle skinny,” Martha replied.  “Heart means a lot more to me.”

“Well he’s got it in spades.”

“We should double sometime,” Clara suggested.  Martha squeezed her hand.  “Or not.”

“It’ll have to wait until I get back,” Bucky said.  “I ship out today.”

Clara frowned.  “You mean…you’re being deployed?”

“Yep.”  Bucky sighed softly.  “I was actually making my rounds, saying goodbye and all that.  I was starting to think I wouldn’t get to see you before I left though.”

“Well…here I am,” Clara replied awkwardly.  “ _Connie_.  Saying goodbye.”

“There you are,” Bucky said with a laugh.  “It’ll probably be awhile before I see you again so let’s do this proper like.”  He took Clara by the hand and pulled her into a kiss.  He cradled her in his arms and dipped her backwards slightly.

When he stood her back upright, Clara had a dazed look on her face, but wore a smile nonetheless.  “Blimey,” she said breathlessly in her natural accent.

Bucky quirked a brow and Martha quickly interjected.  “I’ve been teaching her British slang.  Accent and all.”  She grabbed Clara’s hand again and shot her a conspiratorial glance.  “Right _Connie_?”

“Right!” Clara said, switching back to an American accent.  “Pretty impressive, yea?”

“Very,” Bucky said with a slight frown, but shook it off.

“Hey Buck!” an all too familiar voice called out in the distance.  All three of them looked towards the sound to see Steve.  Not the Steve Martha knew, but the smaller and frailer man he had been before the serum.  Despite the differences in his appearance, the sight of him warmed Martha’s heart.

Bucky held a hand up requesting a moment before turning back to Martha and Clara.  “Sorry to cut things short ladies, but I have places to go and people to see,” he told them as he adjusted his hat.

“Of course,” Martha said softly.  “Good luck.”

Bucky smiled at her then turned his attention Clara.  “Keep an eye on Steve.”

“We will,” Clara promised.

Bucky nodded one last time then turned to leave.  When he reached Steve, Bucky said something to Steve then both men glanced back in their direction.  Clara waved first and Bucky followed suit.  Steve awkwardly lifted a hand as well and Martha hesitantly returned the gesture.

Martha squeezed Clara’s hand once more, bringing her back to attention.  “We need to get back to the TARDIS.”  Along the way, they sandwiched the perception filter between their already joined hands and sent word to the Steve and the Doctor of their encounter with Bucky.  The rest was up to them.

Martha retreated to the wardrobe once they were safely inside the TARDIS.  She felt a desperate need to be in her own clothes again.  She waited for Steve there and he found her sometime later.

“Hey there,” he greeted her.  The apprehension he had in his voice before was replaced by quiet contentment, but she could tell he was still sad.  This was just a temporary reprieve from his pain.  The Steve she saw earlier would still have to mourn the loss of Bucky and the one in front of her now would continue to live with it.

“You saw Bucky,” Martha guessed with a smile.

“I did.”  He confirmed with a nod.  “I also saw someone else.”

“Oh?”

“Yea.  I suddenly have memories of a woman named Martha, Connie’s pen pal from England,” Steve said with a smile.  “I just saw her once.  A quick glance, but Bucky was sure that I’d like her if I ever met her.”

“You should’ve gone out with her,” Martha told him.

“The funny thing is Connie never had a pen pal named Martha,” Steve informed her.  “You see, I asked her after Bucky left.  She had no clue what I was talking about.”

“Mysterious.”

“Very.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Ask you out instead.”

Martha smiled.  “Where will we go?”

“How about the moon?” Steve suggested.

“The moon?”

Steve nodded.  “I missed the moon landing while I was in the ice.  How about we get the Doctor to take us there for our second date?”

“Last time I was on the moon I nearly died of oxygen deprivation,” Martha informed him.  “But we could have the Doctor take us back to see it as it happened.  I saw it a few times back in 1969.  It was amazing.”

“You know, I’m starting to think it might be a tall order to impress you.”

Martha laughed.  “It’s really not.”

“I stand a chance then?”

Martha nodded.  “Better that most.”  She rose up on her toes to kiss him again.

Steve looped an arm around her waist and returned her kiss.  “Back to the museum then?”

“We could.  Or you could come home with me,” Martha said.  “Have that movie date instead.”

“Is the Doctor gonna us drop back in Washington?”

“No, if I leave London unannounced my mum might kill me,” Martha told him with a laugh.  “Besides, I told you _The Princess Bride_ was my favorite film ever.  Obviously, I’d have more than one copy.”

“Obviously.”  Steve smirked.  “Know a good Indian place nearby?  I was promised curry.”

“I have one on speed dial.”

Steve gave her a quick kiss then pulled away to go change his clothes.  “Then it’s a date.”


End file.
